iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Been playing The Mermaid Mask and it's SO GOOD. Great writing, genuinely funny, superb voice acting, lovely art & animation and a super intuitive and satisfying UI. Big recommend and congrats @sfbdim.bsky.social, @sfbtom.bsky.social and co 🙌

Keyart for the Mermaid Mask video game with the game title and main characters, detective Grimoire and Sally

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Fuck genAI, just have been alive in the actual 80s...

A photo of an old photograph of a blonde kid wearing a puma t-shirt

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

That's interesting. I'm keen to dig into what makes up that PC growth, as purely Steam revenue has potential to plateau this year according to SensorTower/VGInsights app.sensortower.com/vgi/steam-ma... (assumption from me based on zero real insight into likely Q4 yoy performance)

A chart showing year on year revenue for Steam from VGInsights. Trend shows a year on year increase with the year to date value for 2026 indicating a potential stall in growth

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Important news, and a little treat for you, the early morning BSky crew... Weasels are back! He is long. Has a butt and stub tail.

Photo of a weasel drinking at a bird bath

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Reminds me of that scene in Blade Trinity... I don't know what's wrong with me either 😅

A scene from Blade Trinity showing humans shrink wrapped in a wall grid formation

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

💯 I really hope this happens and more people realise this is the actual outcome of a business going public. www.gamesindustry.biz/devolver-dig...

Crop of linked article which reads:

The purpose is simple and positive. Being private will allow the Devolver Digital team, especially the finance, legal, and executive team, to singularly focus on the long-term health of the company and less on satisfying the requirements of the public market, which have nothing to do with being a successful game publisher.

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

That's interesting. They obviously lean quite heavily into AI as a core part of their proposition (in the name!), but this suggests it's maybe a bit less ai-bro than I first assumed...

AI content disclosure from steam which reads:
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

None of the art assets in the game are AI-generated. The visual art, story design, music and worldbuilding are created by human developers and artists.

In-game chat is dynamically generated using LLM and text-to-speech technology, allowing characters to respond uniquely to your choices and playstyle.

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

So many people get caught up trying to be on the bandwagon for the "next big thing in games", they forget to focus on things THEY most love themselves. Been there, struggled with that. Allow me to refer you to this Mr Bingo piece...

A phot of a concrete gravestone with the words "Don't forget to have fun" embossed into it

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

New hobby, hitting the "this looks like AI slop" button on all of LinkedIn's own ads 😈

A screen grab of a linked in ad with the context menu open showing "this looks like AI slop" as an option

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Slaters gonna slate. In case you were wondering (they weren't), slating a roof is really effing hard. Probably one of the most difficult jobs of the build so far. #BarnLife

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Equal parts devastated and relieved Develop is over. Loved hanging out with great people but rest is nice. 📸 Went for a walk on the beach Thurs morning and found an abandoned @gibiz.bsky.social token

A photo of a gi biz drinks token on Brighton beach

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I have been running purely off solar power (+generator backup) since April 2025. This is what that looks like for the 3 of you that might be interested. About £150 worth of diesel in the past 15 months.

A graph showing last 12 months power usage and generation. 1422kWh consumed, 1200 from solar, 340 from generator

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Half way through the year and this is interesting. This is the first year since 2019 that Steam's revenue _might_ not increase year on year. I mean, it's still a huge number and not at all relative to the insanity that is investment in games (or lack of), but still interesting.

A graph showing steam revenue year on year climbing since 2019

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

6am on a Saturday has become a regular thing for me in old age. Good morning early crew, What's on the agenda for today? Ima be building a roof 🏚️ #BarnLife

Photo of a part built roof covered in blue membrane and wooden battens under a bright blue sky.

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Ugh dunno why they uploaded so dark... Here's hopefully better versions

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

More #IndieDevs should let @noaksey.com, @kiddesimo.bsky.social and me graffiti their games 😎 These look so rad in The Quiet Things by @silverscriptgames.bsky.social

Screenshot of The Quiet Things games showing a graffiti tag of the handle Noaksey

Screenshot of The Quiet Things games showing a graffiti tag of the handle Kid Desimo

Screenshot of The Quiet Things games showing a graffiti tag of the handle HeyDanThomas

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Phew, I knew this would be a rare tangle with "the feels" but oof and grrrrr and ahhhh is the only appropriate review of this stunning piece of real life story telling. More people need to share their stories like this. Amazing work by @alyxjones.bsky.social and @silverscriptgames.bsky.social ♥️

A photo of a laptop in a campervan playing The Quiet Things game

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Saturday morning shopping trips look a bit different these days... Never expected to be excited for buying stone lintels 😅 #SelfBuild #BarnLife

A photo of 4 stone lintels strapped down in the back of a pick up truck

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

For those who don't subject themselves to my LinkedIn waffle or whose algo has spared them... I've joined the Killer Filler crew helping with bizdev and marketing. I love how focused the proposition is: Incredible shortform video for between your main games marketing beats 🎮🎥 LETS TALK?!

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

There's bluebells in the woodland next to our field and this year they've breached the boundary. Good.

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Spell checker is taking this place down from the inside...

screenshot of bsky status page with a typo: "we are investigating an incident with service in one of our reginos"

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Woodland update: Back in December, my wife and I planted a small woodland. Here's a Rowan tree busting out some new leaves. Good work little tree 🙌 #BarnLife

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Coming out of the long weekend with a tasty serving of procedural generation at @everythingproc.bsky.social Excited to be repping @apparance.bsky.social 🙌

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Budget hotel with an incredible view, whodathunk it #London

View from a budget hotel window showing a small blockwork yard with lots of pipes and cables

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

🎉It's @everythingproc.bsky.social soon! 🥰Hang out with tech artists, programmers and tools devs in beautiful Breda, Netherlands 🤓Learn runtime procedural generation at the @apparance.bsky.social masterclass 👀Discount: EPC2026_APPARANCE www.everythingprocedural.com#masterclasses #GameDev #ProcGen

A screengrab of the EPC website showing the Apparance masterclass

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Starting the day with some early morning tree care. Putting down these wool mulch mats to help the saplings not have fight the grass for nutrients. Only 1000 more to go before spring really kicks in and makes this job even harder...

A photo of a field covered in tree saplings with wool mulch mats

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Late to the party as always but really enjoying Tinykin by @splashteam.bsky.social. Super chill collect all the things 3D platformer with a gaggle of lil friends with different abilities. Super polished, not too taxing but really satisfying and fun.

Key art for Tinykin showing the main portagonist on top of a pile of one-eyed, brightly coloured Tinykins

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Frogspawn update! You can see they'll be tadpoles any day now 🐸

A photo of some frogspawn in a grassy pond

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Some of you may recall that back in November, we planted a small woodland on our field. Well, I have never been so excited to walk around a field and look at sticks in tubes as I was today... 🌱 First signs of growth!

A photo of a tree sapling in a plastic tube showing tiny buds of growth

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

I don't know who cares, but this morning I found two more frog breeding sites in the ditch alongside the field. So that's nice. Stay tuned for more froggy updates as we slowly claw our way out of winter 🐸

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I haven't played any NextFest demos yet. But I did find evidence the frogs are out of hibernation (or "torpor" for the nature nerds). Spring is springing and I think we all need some of that, eh? What's your favourite Spring marker? 🐸

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

One of the first video games I loved. You play as a bin man. We got a bit more ambitious with our gaming fantasies since then eh? It blows my mind how far games have come and what a privilege it's been to see almost the entire evolution of an industry.

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Dug a trench today lads. Also, the wife just dropped our 12 month #BarnLife summary video on YT: youtu.be/ST2EOwN6Uqo

Photo of a trench towards a field with hills in the background

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Let's go! #PGConnects! Having used the weekend to recover from last week's trip to London, I'll be back on the train first thing tomorrow 😅

A screen shot of an alarm app showing a 5am alarm

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Organise events to ✅ Help #IndieDevs get feedback on their pitches ✅ Create a wholesome space to learn from each other ✅ Get cool photos of besties looking fabulous 📸 Pics from Pitch Up! Full album: photos.app.goo.gl/VWFkFHSwoWdq... More indie event news soon 👀

A photo of Lyndy posing and looking fabulous

Photo of Dan being hilarious to Alyx and Meg

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

More snowy scenes (It's not all glam tho, I was on my way to clear the snow off the solar panels #offGridProblems)

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Makes for a nice view though 🌨️

Photo of a snowy valley with a pickup and digger in the foreground

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Morning! Back to it today, team. Up and at em and all that. Also, brrr 🥶

A screenshot of the Android weather app showing -7 degrees

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Morning! Back to it today, team. Up and at em and all that. Also, brrr 🥶

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Finished a twixtmas project! 2 barn doors built from scratch. Decided to clad in a chevron pattern, which made things needlessly over-complicated, but I'm chuffed with the result. Just another normal festive thing, right?

A close up photo of barn doors, showing wooden cladding in a Chevron pattern

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

If anyone wants to know what off grid solar power looks like in Wales going into winter, this gives an idea 😅 Plans are under way to rely less on the genny...

A screenshot of a chart showing a decline in solar power over the past six months

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Just watched the Divinity trailer and at 44 years old, let me tell you, I was not old enough to watch that 😅🤢

A screenshot of the text "For adult audiences only" from the Divinity teaser trailer

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Another day another train ride. Weather is rubbish again too. Ah well, I'm sure it's sunny in London...

Photo of a train station in the dark and lots of rain

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Dan Thomas @heydanthomas.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Liverpool has become one of my favourite UK cities. Both for vibes and a rad games community 😍

A photo of some street art of the Beatles

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